by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig
As I wrote in this post in April 2015 (a post which landed me immediately on a couple of different podcasts to elaborate), I have not been much of a fan of pre-orders.
Why I originally set-up a pre-order
I started a pre-order experiment last October. At the time, I had every reason to expect that the experiment would be a success. I’d heard good things about setting up pre-orders on podcasts and from distributors like Mark Coker at Smashwords and Draft2Digital.
Problems during my pre-order
However, I’ve learned I’m apparently too high-strung to have a ten-month pre-order. I fretted over delivering the book on time during an unusually busy 10 month period (and as I wrote two other books to keep on schedule). Plus, I was receiving very little income during the pre-order period, despite having a lower price on the release as a pre-release.
It also bothered me that readers seemed confused by the pre-order. I received emails from readers who didn’t understand why they couldn’t yet read the book and why it wasn’t available for pre-order on Amazon.
The reason, FYI, that it wasn’t available on Amazon is because they mark each sale toward the title’s ranking that day instead of allowing the pre-order sales to accumulate and positively impact visibility/ranking on the release day.
The pre-order directly before the release
I never know exactly how long it will take me to write a book, but for some reason it took me very little time to write Cruising for Murder. It was done in slightly over two months. And, as I suspected, I immediately became antsy once the betas and freelance editor were finished with the manuscript; I was ready to release it.
That was on August 6th. The release date was set for August 20th. I wasn’t sure if I could set the release earlier on Draft2Digital. I was delighted to discover that I could. I immediately changed the release to August 11th. I got urgent notices that they needed the final copy right away, so I quickly uploaded the manuscript and back matter.
I abruptly decided to try to set up a pre-order on Amazon for that same five day period. I figured that whatever sales I made in that short pre-order period wouldn’t be enough to mess up my ranking for the first day.
But I wasn’t sure I even could set up a pre-order on Amazon in such a short amount of time. The final version, according to Amazon, must be uploaded ten days before publication: “Your final version must be uploaded and republished at least 10 days before the release date you set, with the last day for upload starting at midnight, U.S. Eastern time. For example, if you were releasing a book on September 20, you would need to upload and republish it by 11:59 PM Eastern time on September 9 (4:59 AM UTC the following day).”
However, when I pulled up the window for arranging the pre-order, it allowed me to set the 11th as long as I went ahead and immediately uploaded the final manuscript.
Sales
At Draft2Digital in the week leading up to the release, I had zero sales until the 10th (the day before the launch), when I saw 16 sales. The next day I had 43 more (these are non-Amazon retailers…Nook, iBooks, etc.)
At Amazon, it was a similar story. Zero sales until the 10th, when I had 33 and then I had 121 on the release day.
So…do readers procrastinate? Would they rather buy a book when they can actually read it? I can’t blame them because I think I’m that type of reader, myself.
The good things I can say about pre-orders:
- Everything was in place on release day. The retailers were simultaneously ready to sell. Once I upload the final manuscript, I have time to do all the other pre-launch things that I need to do.
- When the book released on Amazon, the ‘also-boughts,’ the list of recommended reads that Amazon provides readers populated immediately. So my book was showing up as a suggestion right away.
- I had 3 reviews within 3 days of release. I think that may speak to the fact that the books were delivered on launch day which may have given my most avid readers the chance to read it right away.
Additional notes:
If I had to do it again, I’d make the pre-order period much shorter.
I’d set it about a week out and I’d upload it to both Amazon and Draft2Digital/Smashwords. Then I’d announce the pre-order in my newsletter.
Not only that, but I’d upload the book to both PODs CreateSpace and Ingram the week before the release and allow them to (usually slowly) go through pre-production approval and become available for order, even prior to the release of the digital copies.
Have you tried pre-orders? How did they work for you?
An update on how pre-orders worked for one author: Share on X
My last book had a bunch of pre-orders but I don’t know when in the process they were ordered or from whom. It was cool to see those listed separately though.
Alex–I think it could be very satisfying to see those pre-orders. If I’d had them! Maybe it’s just my readers?
As a reader I have to say I don’t think I’ve ever pre-ordered a book. While I’m always excited about a release date I’m not sure why I’ve never pre-ordered. I mark my calendar for a release date so I guess it would make more sense and be more productive on my part if I did pre-order. Sounds like you’ve found a system that will work for future pre-order sales.
Thoughts in Progress
and MC Book Tours
Mason–I’ve only pre-ordered books for my kids, never for me. Is it an age thing, I wonder? I wonder if the younger readers are more apt to pre-order (my kids had no problem with it).
It’s hopefully a system that will work next time. If there *is* a next time. I’m still mulling that part over. It’ll sure be short, if I do it again.
Thanks for sharing how it went, Elizabeth. I’ve always had mixed feelings about pre-orders, myself, ‘though I have one for my upcoming novel. I think this is one of those parts of the process that isn’t really clear-cut. I appreciate your sharing what you learned.
Margot–I’ve certainly heard a good many writers say that they like them. Sometimes I think I’m a contrarian. :) Excited about your upcoming novel!
We set up pre-orders now, usually 3-4 months in advance. I do see early sales long before the release date. But part of it is to give our authors links well in advance. They get antsy when their books are approaching the release date and they don’t have any buy links.
Diane–I can definitely see that. I just link to my website’s book page and post updates. Helps with SEO for the site, although it obviously doesn’t help with early sales in any respect. Maybe at this stage I’ve just gotten less antsy about the actual release…I’m more concerned with my own delivery of the title.
Personally, I’ve pre-ordered books when they met the following conditions – 1) it was an auto-buy series or author for me already; 2) I knew for sure I’d have the money in my account when it released; 3) The release date was far enough away (3-6 months) that I was afraid I would forget about it. That usually accounts for 1 or 2 books a year.
Most of the time I just stick a title on my wishlist and then check it every now and then to see if it’s been released and what the price is.
Megan–These are all good reasons! Particularly the forgetting bit.
Although I don’t pre-order, I put them on my wishlist (and then hope family members will buy them for me at Christmas/birthday). Or I put them on my public library wishlist and I get an email when it’s available. That’s even better!
I, actually, can’t wait for the next book, so preordering makes me less anxious waiting for the release date. I don’t have to worry about missing anything or the release date. Love your books! I can’t imagine the stress of waiting for your babies to be released!
Darlene–Thanks for this! It’s good for me to hear from readers when I’m trying to figure out direction on something. And thank you for reading my books!
Hi Elizabeth – I like the idea of the young v old thing (or not so young!) .. but for those of us who know we will get the book – we just need patience … the young are desperate for it now!
Interesting and thanks for telling us about it … Cheers Hilary
Hilary–Very true! And thanks so much for coming by. :)
I’ve never pre-ordered a book. I already have so many books on my Kindle that need to be read, I don’t see the need. If the book is by an author I like, I figure I’ll eventually get around to buying it, so there’s no hurry. If I want to help support the author, then I would rather order it on release day, since that helps the author’s visibility on Amazon.
Ken–Oh, I hear you. I’ve got a ton on my Kindle. Boosting a fellow author on release day is a good strategy.
I wonder if there’s any advantage to pre-orders not as a sales device, but a marketing/exposure device. That is, a long pre-order *might* be a way to get your book in front of buyers inside Amazon’s ecosystem who are already in a mind to buy. The old adage of getting a product in front of someone seven times before it sticks. Maybe those purchases you got right after the release were people realizing, “hey, there’s that book again, I’ll pick it up now.” Maybe they’d seen it a few times already, so by the time it was available, they pulled the trigger. I have absolutely NO scientific basis for that idea, but regardless of what it does to day-of-sales rankings, maybe it’s a good way to get it floating around in there for a while. Am I nuts?
BP–That is a very interesting line of thought. I’ve definitely heard that marketing adage about 7 times. I think some readers might definitely operate that way. My memory is so bad, though, that I’d imagine when I saw something for the 7th time I’d wonder, “Do I remember this cover because I *bought* it, or because I *want* to buy it?” :)
Your thoughts on this made me remember something else about pre-orders. I have heard that Apple/iBooks offers more ‘merchandising’ opportunities and related visibility if a writer offers a book for pre-ordering on their site. Maybe the Apple folks subscribe to your point of view, too, and want more pre-orders available?
Good question! I’m not sure what the answer is. I’m not even sure if using pre-orders as a marketing device would work, but it makes me wonder. Within Amazon, you’re putting it in front of potential readers who are already in a mindset to buy, which is not necessarily the case with someone receiving an email. I’m not sure if there’s any way to validate my pseudo-theory, but it’s something to think about. I guess we’d need more data.